He was detained for three days and released after signing a “document of submission.” Fourteen protesters, arrested for demonstrating against the government’s failure to resolve a trash crisis, as well as corruption, in 2015, have been referred to military courts for rioting, violence against police, and destruction of property.

Syrian women appear to be at particular risk of trafficking into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation.

In March 2016, security officers freed as many as 75 Syrian women from two brothels.

In February, a Syrian refugee, arrested by Lebanese Military Intelligence officers apparently on suspicion he was gay, was allegedly tortured while detained at Military Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, Military Police, and Jounieh police centers.

As the Syrian refugee crisis continued, new residency policies introduced in January 2015 caused an estimated 70 percent of Syrians to lose legal status, restricting their movement and their ability to work, access healthcare, and send their children to school.

With limited international support, the government struggled to meet refugees’ needs.

While freedom of expression is generally respected in Lebanon, defaming or criticizing the Lebanese president or army is a criminal offense.

On August 22, 2016, a woman was sentenced by a military court to a month in prison for “offending the military institution,” after alleging that military intelligence members raped and tortured her in detention in 2013.